


Crows

by oh_hey_mickey



Series: Original Works [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Animal Transformation, Character Death, Crows, Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_hey_mickey/pseuds/oh_hey_mickey
Summary: A family is attacked on the side of the road and only one gets away. This is the story of her death.
Series: Original Works [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143836
Kudos: 4





	Crows

I wake up to my dad pulling off to the side of the road. "Stay calm, everybody. I'll handle this."

That wakes me up completely. I take off my sleeping mask and see a large group of men in front of our stopped van. We're in the middle of nowhere, what could they possibly want? There are too many of them for it to be a broken down car.

Suddenly, the closest man takes out a knife and fear grapples at my throat. The man points the knife at my dad in the driver’s seat. He gestures for him to get out of the car and Dad complies, holding his hands up and visible.

"Hey!" I yell. I’m scared, but less scared for myself than I am for my dad. The man with the knife looks at me and scoffs and continues on. The other men swarm the car and I feel my muscles lock up. "Stop that! What are you doing?!"

“You can have all our money,” my mother says to the man with the knife. He chuckles, shakes his head, and keeps going. She desperately starts rooting around in her purse to find her wallet but the door beside her is opened and she is pulled out of the car. My mother is whimpering and my throat is closing up, I don’t know what’s happening. 

I look to my siblings. Ash is serene, sleeping in his car seat, but the twins look like they know something is wrong. Thea's still asleep. I reach into the back seat and shake her awake. She looks disgruntled before she looks outside, and her face blanches. "W-what's happening?" she asks.

"I don't know, but just be quiet and we'll get out of this." I look back as another man opens the door on Ash's side of the van, pulling him out of his seat. My heart stutters in my chest, the thought of what could happen to him terrifies me. 

"Leave him alone!" Thea yells, her voice alarmed. She unclips her seatbelt and throws herself out of the van, scaring the twins. They started crying, but I shush them. Fear grips my chest. They try to unbuckle themselves to crawl into my lap, but the door opens behind me and I’m pulled outside. The twins scream, pushing back into their seats.

I’m pulled backwards until I’m in line with my sister and my parents, my mother weeping and holding Ash in her arms. I have no shoes on and my dad is shivering slightly in only his t-shirt. More than ten men surround us as another two climb into the van to grab my sisters.

"Stay away from them!" My dad yells, and the man closest to him hits him in the stomach. My mother cries out, holding Ash to her shoulder, hiding his face as my dad doubles over in pain.

"You shut it." the man says gruffly. He punches my dad again and he drops to his elbows and knees. 

I watch in horror as he's pulled back up by the hair and a knife is stabbed into his ear, right into his brain. He falls. I cry out alongside my family, and blood pools next to Dad’s head. 

_ My father was just killed in front of me.  _

"What are you doing?!" I scream, and the men laugh. I can’t believe it, I don’t want to believe it. They're surrounding us, we can't run away. We're stuck beside my dead dad, waiting to either be executed in the same fashion or to die fighting off the group. I feel my hope leave me, but I hold onto it desperately.

“What do you want from us?” my mother asks, her voice trembling. I want to comfort her but I’m too scared to move. They ignore her and move to grab my sisters. 

Two men grab Sarah and Samantha. My heart clenches; they're too young to die! I look to Thea, she's got tears running down her face. She turns to me and I try to show her I'll make it right, I'll get us out of this, but the stream of tears doesn't stop. 

I’m scared but I muster all the courage I have and turn back to the men and  _ scream _ . "Let them GO!" I run towards one of the men holding Samantha, but before I can wrench her out of the man's arms I run into something. It feels like a punch to the stomach but when the man pulls his arm away from me, a knife is in his hand, covered in blood.  _ I've just been stabbed _ . I fall back to the ground and the men turn back to the twins. My mother is sobbing behind me, Ash now wailing too.

They make quick work of the girls. Their heart rending cries are silenced as they’re stabbed at the same time the same way Dad was.  _ At least they went quickly _ . One didn't have to see the other die first. The girls drop within reaching distance. Sarah’s facing me and her eyes are open. I watch the light in them fade, the remaining tears falling from her cold eyes. I don’t know if I can get us out of this anymore. 

I watch from the ground as Thea is taken next by another man. She struggles, fighting back, but that only makes the man angrier. He growls, hits her in the head with the butt of the knife and she collapses. The man kicks her in the stomach and I’m not sure if she’s conscious or not. She doesn’t move after that.

I manage to get to my feet, not feeling any pain yet. I grab at my stomach and apply pressure to the wound, having to feel around for the wet spot. I’m beside myself with fear. The man who killed my dad puts his hands on my baby brother and I see red. “You stay away from him!” He scuffles with my mother for a few seconds before she loses her grip on Ash, and he rips him away from her arms. 

"Leave him alone!" my mother shrieks. Her face is terrified, I’ve never seen her like this. "He's only a baby!"

The men laugh as one of them slits my baby brother’s throat. My eyes are blurring and I can't see anymore. My hands are warm where I hold back my blood. I see my mother drop to the ground and I run.

-

As far as I know, my entire family is dead. I feel hollow. 

I've been walking for hours. Staggering, I hold my wound which steadily pours blood past my fingers and onto the snow below me. The cold pierces the soles of my feet and the exposed skin of my face. It hurts but I won't stop until I know they're not following me anymore.

I run until my legs can no longer hold me up and I fall. 

As I lay in the snow, the sky blurs. The adrenaline wore off ages ago and the pain from my wound is excruciating, a hot knife twisting in my stomach.

I look up at the trees around me. Everything is crystal clear, the sound of the evergreens shuffling, the biting cold of the snow underneath me. I can't move, the pain paralyzing me.

Birds are circling overhead. They fly above me, probably thinking I'm dead. I might as well be at this point, and I will be if the men catch up with me, following the breadcrumbs, the droplets of my blood.

The birds land beside me. Maybe they'll peck at my wound, hoping for something good to eat in winter when food is sparse. I find a morbid sense of humour in this, maybe I’ll be useful in my last moments. 

I turn my face to the side, where they’re gathering. Snow crunches in my ear, starting to melt beneath my weak body. The crows are surrounding me, but I'm not scared. They comfort me, they are protecting me.

All of a sudden, I start to recognize them, and I think they recognize me too.

The most curious one, the smallest with blue eyes, steps up first. It feels like ages since the last time I saw him. I miss him so much. "Hey, Ash, buddy! I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you. I hope you're not in pain anymore. I really hope I didn't leave you in pain."

A little behind him are two crows, hopping tentatively toward me. They must be the inseparable twins. They were always together when they were alive, attached at the hip at all times. Even in the afterlife, they couldn't manage to be without the other. "Hi Sarah, Samantha, I miss you guys. How have you been? Y-you were so young." A tear rolls down the side of my face. 

Next is a regal, aloof crow. She stands indifferent behind Ash, acting as if she doesn't care about seeing me. Just like when she was alive. A hysterical laugh bubbles in my throat, I can’t believe she’s still acting exactly like she had while I’m bleeding out. The laughter disintegrates as a stab of pain arcs through my body. 

A nervous looking crow lingers behind the rest of the group. She's hopping from foot to foot, no doubt worried sick at seeing me like this, all bloody. "Don't worry, Mom, I'm alright! See, look!" I take my hand off my wound, fighting back a wince. Blood trickles out now, my shirt and sweater soaked through. "It doesn't even hurt anymore, don't worry. I love you, Mom." My eyes are foggy.

The last one, a tall, proud bird steps up closer than the others. My dad. He had always been reliable, a shoulder to lean on. Now, he's probably holding the family together in Heaven, making sure Mom doesn't worry too much and keeping the twins out of trouble. "Hey, Dad. Hope you're doing well. I'm j-just fine." I try to keep up the facade, though I know none of them believe me. It hurts, the knife transformed into a sword.

"I'm really sorry I couldn't save you all. I really t-tried, but there were too many of them. I promise, I tried. I hope you didn't feel any pain." My voice is wet with tears. It hurts to breathe, it hurts to think that only hours ago we were all alright. “I wish I could’ve done more for you, but I… I was too weak. I’m so sorry. I wish I could’ve helped more, even if it was only to give you a few more minutes. I… I let you down.” My voice breaks and I’m crying now. Crying like my mother was, moments before she died. It might be my imagination, but I think the crows are frowning. Like they’re sad that I’m sad. 

"I l-love you guys. I hope I see you again soon."

I look up, and it's peaceful again.

The pain stops. 

The crows gather, hopping all in one direction. My view changes, and suddenly I’m with my family again.

And I’m flying.

**Author's Note:**

> my second original work! (i know it says it's part one of the series but yk i can't figure out how to make it say part two so just ignore that!!!)
> 
> talk to me on instagram @ zippo.ohheymickey or on tumblr @ ohheymickey !!!!!


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